I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Home Dialysis => Topic started by: Fox_nc on March 25, 2014, 08:18:22 PM
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Hey guys, I use a Liberty machine through Fersenius and have a question .... The 5L bags I use overnight and they have these annoying little red "cones" that have to be broken to open them. I have the hardest time with them.! Tonight one came off fine and it took me and my husband forever to get the other one. I've have to be missing something .... It can't be that hard.
:sos;
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Hi, I'm new here and I also use the liberty machine. I've actually found it very easy to break the cones, I use one hand and basically with my index finger under the tube, I use my thumb to snap the cone down over my index finger. Works very well for me. Hope that helps!
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Do you work the red broken off part down until it's in the bag itself?
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I use one bag of 1.5 solution and one bag of 2.5 solution per treatment. For some reason the cone in the 2.5 solution very easily slides down the tube and falls into the bag without much effort, but the other bags cone does not- don't know if the circumference of the tube is different on the bags- but after the machine begins it's pumping and priming cycles, the "stuck" cone usually gets pushed into the bag, and even when it doesn't as long as you've made sure the cone is broken clean off, the solution can still flow adequately.
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Thanks Guys! If I fight with it tonight I'll see if the Prime with pop it on out.
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After I break the cone I hold the tube just under the cap. and swirl it to move the cone down, don't hold onto the cap because it just might become loose and come off. Then as I wiggle the tube back and forth using my thumb I push the cone further and further down the tube. Then if most of the cone is out of the tube I try using the fluid to "wash" it out completely. Sometime it's rough on the thumb nail!
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The broken cones don't have to go "into" the bags. Just break them all around and make sure it's not plugging the neck. I always break mine and they float just above the opening. My fills work fine like this. Sometimes the cones do get into the solution itself, but I didn't mean to do that. Not necessary. I've been on PD for 12 years and have been doing it this way.
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Getting the cones out of that tube is the most frustrating part of hooking up. When in training the nurse showed me how to knock it out with the cone breaker. It took me 10 to 15 minutes to get down into the bag. Now I break it then hold the top of the tube and rotate it around. It get to the neck of the tube so I use my thumb to push it out as I rotate until if gets just about out then I use the solution to flush it out the rest of the way. The only thing is that it is rough on my thumb nail. In the manuals one only has to break that plastic part.